1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar power generation display assembly and methods for providing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to displays for adaptive visual indicia involving multi-use structures such as car canopies, billboards, branched or stalk-type advertising structures, and suspended media (including flags) where visual indicia is linked to solar energy enhanced power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
To improve the quality and economic value of media, promotional, entertainment, decorative and other installations it is desirable to develop means to provide multi-use structures to facilitate such things as mounting for electricity generating photovoltaic (PV) modules, image display technology, decorative and other elements. Where open space for PV system installation is limited or restricted there is a need to incorporate PV into multi-use structures such as displays, billboards, decorative installations and other structures.
The improving economic feasibility of photovoltaic power systems, the need for sources of clean energy and the social benefit of increasingly public awareness of the same has led to an increasing world market for PV systems. There are also ancillary benefits of clean energy production, or energy production without carbon emissions, as discussed in the relevant scientific literature.
The existing market for advertising and media placement has become increasing populated with electronic and digital signage formats; this market would benefit from the addition of energy-generating media systems and methods. Multi-purpose media would refresh interest in the media itself and in the energy generation capabilities of the system.
The related art involves the use of solar powered billboards. In this type of related art, a traditional billboard with printed or painted indicia is secured to a rigid planar surface (typically suspended above the ground) and lighted by incandescent, fluorescent, gas-plasma, or arc-type lighting. Secured near to the rigid planar surface is a solar array containing a plurality of electrically linked solar cells constructed from crystalline or amorphous silica. See for example the arrays at www.solarpowerauthoritiy.com/archives/2008/. In one adaptive example shown at this site, the rigid solar arrays are fixed to the rigid planar surface.
In operation, these types of solar arrays generate DC power at a variable rate depending upon the available solar energy received, and are therefore necessarily linked with the centralized power-supply grid to provide power during the night time. Those of skill in the advertising arts will recognize the night time as being a particularly desirable time to advertise which requires heavy power supply. Unfortunately, there is no solar energy supplied during the night and so such operations necessarily require a grid-based power draw to work.
As an additional detriment, this type of related advertising display requires that the solar array system takes up or otherwise occupies the space employed for the advertising indicia (the billboard) or takes up space that must be rented at a fee from the owner of the billboard system. As a result, the solar array-rigid billboards are often much more expensive and more difficult to operate than simple traditional billboards with a lighting system.
Another type of related art are so-called ‘solar’ textiles that are currently under speculation at www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/01/solar.textiles/index.html where a thin-film photovoltaic material (solar energy generating material) is woven into a textile itself where the textile product (a curtain or sun-shade) would also include the complex flexible wiring to link the power generation to a rechargeable battery source. The concept noted is that the stored battery energy would later be downloaded into a larger home battery system.
A number of detriments are recognized for this related art discussion, including the easy damage and breakdown of the electrical connections between the solar material and the power supplies, thereby rendering the entire textile product inoperable, and the easy damage to the suspending textile itself, thereby causing a structural failure. Similarly, a substantial detriment is the extreme cost of such a textile that would likely fail in the practical environment. Necessarily, those of skill in the art recognize that this related art is in the infancy stage of development and is more speculative then fully developed.
What is not appreciated by the related art is the ability to employ solar arrays as display or advertising indicia itself, where large form advertising or display structures would employ selective positioning of both solar arrays and solar cellular structures to create an advertising image, or in the alternative allow the operational power supply for an advertising suspending structure of the type discussed below.
An additional solar system is known wherein field applied PV roofing laminates are attached to various structures to develop net metered or independent power. Examples are viewable at the Uni-Solar PVL Product Data Sheet produced by PC Power Systems, Inc. (www.affordable-solar.com/). These field-applied PV roofing systems are shown attached to walking shelters, vehicle shelters, schools, buildings, and apartment houses in various ways. In each case they generate power back to the system, but completely fail to be employable as any form of display or advertising indicia.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved solar power generation display system involving solar arrays and visual indicia.